Horn of Africa Update

Members of a newly arrived Somali family carry a bag of corn at the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. Photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT

PWRDF continues to respond to the famine situation in the Horn of Africa. As of August 19, Canadian Anglicans have donated $292,158 through PWRDF. The Canadian government will match all donations received by September 16 by setting money aside in the East Africa Drought Response Fund, which PWRDF and other agencies may apply to receive funds from. The PWRDF blog contains a description of how the matching funds work here.

PWRDF is responding to the famine in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia. To date, PWRDF has allocated $115,000 through the Canadian Foodgrains Bank in Kenya and the ACT Alliance in Somalia and Ethiopia for the following work:

SomaliaAccording to USAID, some 2.85 million people currently require humanitarian assistance in Somalia with 61 per cent of these located in the southern part of the country. The dire situation in Somalia is also forcing unprecedented numbers of Somalis to cross borders into neighboring countries. The total number of Somali refugees in the three neighboring countries (Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti) has surpassed 582,000.
PWRDF, through the ACT Alliance, is providing life-saving humanitarian assistance to: newly displaced people in Mogadishu and lower Shabelle, drought affected people in Gedo region, refugees in the Dadaab camp in Kenya and host communities in both countries. The emergency response appeal of $10 million (US) is being implemented by the three ACT members: Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH), Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), and The Lutheran World Federation (LWF). PWRDF is collaborating with the NCA and three Somali organizations inside Somalia.

PWRDF’s initial contribution of $40,000 will go towards:
“¢Distributing 3710 tonnes of assorted food commodities (Maize, Rice, Pulses, Oil, Salt, Sugar) to 42,000 people in the Garbaharrey, Luuq, Dollow and Belet Xaawa districts over a period of 5 months.
“¢Providing food for families living in 20 camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in and around the Somalian capital of Mogadishu.
“¢Providing food to 28,800 newly displaced persons in Banadir and Lower Shabelle
“¢Providing shelter kits to 200 IDP families in Dollow.
“¢Providing non-food items (tarpaulins, clothes for women and girls, slippers, sanitary kits, soap etc) to 4000 IDP households and vulnerable host communities in the 4 districts in the Gedo region.
“¢Providing an integrated package of non-food items and shelter that include blankets, plastic sheets, impregnated mosquito, soap, water jerry cans and sleeping mats for 28,800 drought affected IDPs in the Banadir and Lower Shabelle regions
“¢Integrating community based psychosocial support with all the NCA activities

KenyaThe drought in Kenya has affected nearly 3 million people. PWRDF has sent $35,000 to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) in responding by scaling up food aid programming to fill the critical gaps for families in Laikipia, Turkana/West Pokit, Kilifi and Taita/Taveta. This project will provide a total of 2100 tonnes of maize, 420 tonnes of beans and split peas, 21 tonnes of salt, and 136,000 litres of cooking oil to 8,400 households over a period of five months. By the end of the project, it is hoped that successive rainfalls will have alleviated the food shortages and high food prices.
The beneficiaries of this intervention will be drought affected households, eating less than one meal per day, in the targeted communities. The majority of the households are involved in herding, while some are farmers. CFGB is working with the Anglican Church of Kenya: Pwani Christian Community Services, Mount Kenya Christian Community Services and the Reformed Church of East Africa.

EthiopiaIn Ethiopia, some 4.8 million people need immediate support. In addition, approximately 120,000 people from Somalia have crossed the border to Ethiopia and are currently living in crowded and under-resourced refugee camps in Dollo Odo.
PWRDF has contributed an initial $40,000 to the ACT appeal for Ethiopia. PWRDF is working with the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus – Development and Social Services Commission (EECMY-DASSC), an ACT member in the country. The objective of the program is to save lives and livelihoods of drought affected communities in the Oromia region of Ethiopia through providing food and agricultural inputs, strengthening drought coping capacity for three months. In addition, ACT members will provide support in terms of food, health and nutrition, shelter materials, water, sanitation and hygiene, literacy programmes, secondary education, psychosocial and skills training in Dollo Odo refugee camps. A total of 99,846 people should receive support through this appeal.
EECMY-DASSC has long-term experience with a good reputation for implementing emergency responses and providing different kinds of development activities, including the provision of life saving emergency assistance, food security, natural resource management, child and youth development, water, hygiene and sanitation, health services including HIV/AIDS prevention, gender and development and capacity building with a physical presence through its local church units in most of the administrative regions and enjoys strong support from the government and other stakeholders in the country.

PWRDF’s contribution will provide food and agricultural provision in the Gasara and Saba Boru districts of Ethiopia; and basic needs assistance for Somali refugees in Dollo Odo. The total quantity of food that will benefit 39,700 people for three months amounts to1,786 tonnes of grain (maize), 178.6 tonnes of legumes, 53.6 tonnes of edible oil and 187.6 tonnes of supplementary food. Each beneficiary will receive a light blanket as well.